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re: Kim Dotcom: MEGA Pair Convicted -Specific Crimes They Admitted
Megaupload: Police Prepare to Seize Assets of Co-Founder Mathias Ortmann
Kim Dotcom Can Be Extradited To The United States, Subject to Judicial Review
Andy Maxwell TF, 06 Nov 2020
Earlier this week attention turned to New Zealand’s Supreme Court as a panel of judges prepared to publish their decision in the extradition case of Kim Dotcom and several of his former Megaupload colleagues.
In their ruling, a panel of judges at the Supreme Court confirmed that Dotcom and former Megaupload colleagues Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk, and Finn Batato, can technically be extradited to the United States to face charges of criminal copyright infringement.
However, the Court also granted the men permission to challenge the decision via a judicial review.
Mathias Ortmann Now Under the Spotlight
Just days after Dotcom’s legal team welcomed the chance to have their say on the alleged deficiencies in the case thus far, all eyes are now turning to Mathias Ortmann.
While all of the defendants are facing extradition and serious criminal charges in the United States, as Megaupload co-founder and Dotcom’s former right-hand man, Ortmann is one of the more important pieces in this constantly shifting puzzle.
Like Dotcom, Ortmann helped generate significant sums of money for Megaupload and indeed himself, something that didn’t go unnoticed by authorities in the United States who are now trying to get their hands on his assets overseas.
Police Are Preparing to Seize Assets in Australia
According to a report in The Australian (paywall), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are preparing to seize assets in the country attributable to Ortmann.
The precise nature of those assets is unclear but back in 2015, an asset forfeiture complaint (pdf) filed by the US Government as part of the action against the ‘Mega Conspiracy’ listed Ortmann as the account holder for several Megaupload-related bank accounts in Australia.
Huge volumes of cash, vehicles and other assets were originally seized by the authorities following the 2012 raid on Megaupload. Dotcom was subsequently able to claw back some of these after legal processes in New Zealand and Hong Kong.
However, after being branded as fugitives by the US Government, Dotcom and his co-defendants were still denied access to millions of dollars. An appeal failed, as did further action at the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Authorities Obtained Order to Seize Ortmann’s Australian Assets
In 2017, the US Supreme Court refused to hear a further appeal by the defendants. As a result, the authorities obtained an order from a court in Virginia to use the Australian Federal Police to seize Ortmann’s Australian assets.
On the back of the US foreign forfeiture order, the AFP is now pursuing Ortmann through the Supreme Court of New South Wales. According to The Australian, Ortmann – who together with co-defendant Finn Batato still works at Megaupload successor Mega in New Zealand – is yet to respond to the forfeiture attempt.
Kim Dotcom Extradition - PREVIOUS REPORT
Ever since Megaupload was raided in 2012, the US Government has been trying to ship Kim Dotcom, Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk, and Finn Batato out of New Zealand but the path has not been smooth.
The process in New Zealand begins when a country, in this case the United States, asks a local court to determine whether the people to whom it desires access are eligible to be extradited under the Extradition Act 1999.
In basic terms, this means that the US needed to show that the alleged offenses would result in a trial in New Zealand if they had taken place there, i.e the offenses were crimes in both countries. Dotcom has long argued against this assertion, insisting that his long-defunct Megaupload service enjoyed “safe harbor” protections under New Zealand law.
Extradition Hearing at the Supreme Court
After several lower courts determined that the Megaupload defendants can indeed be extradited to the United States, in June 2019 the New Zealand Supreme Court heard the hugely controversial matter. The ‘Megaupload Four’ were hoping that a panel of judges at the country’s highest court would see things in a different light and deny the United States an opportunity to try the men on US soil.
Dotcom previously predicted that the Supreme Court would return a 3:2 majority in favor of extradition but what has transpired today does not provide the absolute finality many observers expected.
Dotcom Can Be Extradited But Can Challenge This Decision
In a decision handed down minutes ago, the Supreme Court confirms that Dotcom and his Megaupload colleagues can technically be extradited to the United States to face charges of criminal copyright infringement. However, the Court has also granted the quartet permission to challenge the decision via a judicial review.
The issue lies with a 2015 decision at the District Court which ruled that Dotcom could be extradited. The Megaupload founder’s legal team argued that the court had made errors in its judgment but their calls for a judicial review fell on deaf ears at the High Court and Court of Appeal. In its judgment today, the Supreme Court said that those higher courts were wrong to determine that Dotcom’s application for a judicial review was an abuse of process.
This means that yet more legal arguments will have to be heard. If Dotcom and his colleagues fail at that stage, they will be eligible for extradition. However, any extradition would only take place on copyright grounds since the Supreme Court has ruled that the men are not eligible to be surrendered in respect of money laundering since there is “no matching New Zealand offense.”
Statement From Dotcom’s Lawyer;
Describing the judgment as a “mixed bag”, Dotcom’s lawyer Ron Mansfield says that the judgment gives no final answer to the question of whether his client should be extradited. He also notes that the Supreme Court did not accept the defense’s safe harbor copyright arguments, something which could have “an immediate and chilling” impact on the Internet.
“It will be interesting to see how the challenges now faced by Internet Service Providers are responded to. Can they live with it? Will it result in access restrictions and further costs that we will all incur as a result? Or will our Government be lobbied to intervene and provide real and workable protections for them?” Mansfield questions.
On the plus side, Mansfield appears satisfied that the Supreme Court has determined that the defense should be able to address the “serious procedural issues” that have arisen in the case.
“This means there will be further argument in the Court of Appeal and/or the Supreme Court regarding these significant concerns that are well established in the evidence. This is significant and means that nothing further can happen until the further required hearings take place.
“Kim stays here, at home, with his family,” Mansfield concludes.
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